Local Administrator password generator

[Sc0tt99]

I'm looking for a good password generator that creates passwords based on text you input into the generator. I want to have every PC in the company have a different local Administrator password to increase security, but a random password generator will not work. I'd like to find a utility that uses some algorithm to create a password based on the serial number of the PC, for example. This way, each PC has a different password that is not easily cracked by the average user, but can be reproduced by IT staff if necessary.

I'd appreciate any suggestions.

Thank you,
Sc0tt99

 

[Marc387]

There is a tool in the windows 2000 resource kit called Cusrmgr.exe Tool.

Not sure if this is exactly what your looking for, but I believe you can set it to randomly change the passwords however frequently you want it to change.

More info about it is in Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - 272530 at this link

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q272530

Or if you just type in "Cusrmgr.exe Tool" in Google and it comes up with more info on it.

 

[Sc0tt99]

Marc387,

Unfortunately cusrmgr.exe won't do what I'm looking for. However, if/when I find what I'm looking for, cusrmgr.exe could be extremely helpful in implementing the password changes. Thank you for the tip.

Sc0tt99

 

[perltk99]

There is a security tool designed specifically to do what you have outlined. (create and apply unique passwords with recoverability by admin staff if needed). It is quite cheap, and the eval version is fully functional.
See

http://www.foghornsecurity.com

Alternatively, you could use Active State Perl with the adminmisc modules to generate and apply unique passwords. General algorithm would be:
query the domain for list of machines
for each machine
run the hostname and some static value through md5 hash
take the first 14 characters of the result and apply it as a password.

Now, if you know the static value which you hardcoded into the script, you can always "recover" the password for any particular machine. Note that the use of the hostname will ensure that each machine recieves a unique password.


--perltk99